Thanksgiving

Gobble, Gobble! We stuck Turkey-Lurkey on the Green Egg this year. She was deeeeee-lish!

Sarah and Anna had little chocolate turkeys waiting for them on the table. Sarah chose to eat hers instead of pumpkin pie. Her piece of pie is still sitting in the fridge. I wonder if she'll ever remember it.

The Bleil Family Band.... Jeanne sure could belt it out! :-)

We celebrated Ray's birthday. How old are you, Ray?

Partaking of Grandpa's birthday cake.

Anna has figured out how to unzip her jammies. She's also learned how to poop on the potty. Still no guarantee that she won't spread poop all over the crib, but I sure can HOPE!

Our Christmas Card photo opp was quite the challenge. This isn't it, but I thought you'd like a little sneak peak.

TuTu and Gramps, Part 2

More from the park...

Gramps can hopscotch with the best of 'em.


Holiday Geography Lesson.... Here is Virginia, here is the North Pole.


Waiting so patiently for the Carousel.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Here come the Clampitts!

Putting Gramps to work!

Anna did the supervising while she ate her snack.

JB has perfected his technique for Ribs. The meat fell right off of the bones. They were GOOOOOD!

We hated to see them go, but are excited about the arrival of Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Beth for Thanksgiving. JB will be putting the turkey out on the Egg. I bet it will be just as good as those ribs! Gobble Gobble!

TuTu and Gramps, Part 1

Mom and Dad spent an ENTIRE week with us. We hadn't seen them since we were in LR in June, so this was a much needed visit. You can imagine how much Anna has changed since early summer and Sarah has missed them both SO much. We took a lot of pictures...

Mom has been working on this tablecloth since Sarah was a baby. It involves handprints and non-washable paint. One day we'll get to see the final product.


Silly time with Gramps.


TuTu always plants us pretty flowers.

Dad is the only visitor that gives Scout the attention that she really needs!

Anna helping out with the pansies.

Mom brough some Bubber home from her conference. It really is bizarre stuff.

We walked down the W&OD trail to the Vienna sign. The only way we could keep Anna in one place is to let her play with Mom's phone.

At our favorite park!

Look at that hair blowing in the wind!

In the maze...

The Little Sister

She wants to do everything her big sister does. Eat with spoons and forks, play dress-up, throw fits, spit in the sink when she brushes her teeth, and (much to our pleasure) use the potty.

I'm glad Blogger decided to cooperate today. I'm sure TuTu is as well.

Marine Corps Marathon and 10K

What a race! We started the day at the finish line of the 10K to cheer on Christie and Mike. Unfortunately we misjudged the distance from the Metro station to the finish and missed them both. We found them eventually, though. We are very proud of them!

Once we found them we headed to the National Mall to wait for JB. We found a great spot at Mile 20. We were only there about 20 minutes when he ran by. He was having a great race, but we could tell how happy he was to see his Number One Fans! The girls had Team Daddy tshirts and, of course, looked super cute.

Later that day Sarah wanted to have a race with Mommy. I guess she figured out that she and I were the only ones that didn't race in the morning. Luckily the course was straight, fast, and only from the mailbox to the garage. Whew! Sarah won and was presented with a medal.

I really am proud of my family of runners!

Busy, Busy, Busy

JB and the girls survived my weekend away. I knew they would. We have settled back into our everyday routine. Cheech and Silly Mike arrive on Saturday. The marathon is Sunday. Halloween is right around the corner. It's going to be a busy Fall!

Beth was in town with her soccer team while I was gone. JB took the girls to watch. Notice the tired 4 year old taking advantage of the empty stroller.


The girls have taken on the task of toting things to the recycling bin. JB snapped a shot of their tower.


Anna's Wednesday morning playgroup.


Johnelle was our first non-family member visitor. She loved The Cave.... now you all have to come see for yourselves. We celebrated her birthday while she was here. You know we're always up for cupcakes, even if I didn't have time to make them myself. We had a great time with her.


Halloween fun has begun!

AAAAAARGH! (That's pirate for "Thanks, Grandma!")

Grandma made a bandana for Anna, too. It makes a great dew rag. The McClungs and Farrells will be proud. I'm pondering a costume change for Anna, too. While the candy corn is cute, Sarah would like for her to be her pirate treasure. We'll see if I have time to create another costume!